Bluffton High grads asked to 'pay it forward'

BLUFFTON — Bluffton High School seniors knew they would receive their diplomas during the school's 145th commencement ceremony held last Saturday night. What they didn't expect was the event that took place the day before at graduation practice. Each of the 90 students received an envelope containing $1,000 in cash. The funds came with a challenge attached to "pay it forward" with acts of kindness. "I told them all to hold it up and don't open it until I get done telling you what this is all about," said Superintendent Greg Denecker. At the end of practice, the students opened their envelope. "They didn't know how much was in there. Then of course they were obviously shocked when they saw that it was $1,000," Denecker said. "They were really excited." He said a couple who had asked to remain anonymous approached him a few months ago and told Denecker they were thinking about the idea as a way to spread some kindness. "It was something they wanted to do that would hopefully be a way to pay it forward," said Denecker. "At first I was like, wow, that's just so generous, just very nice." The couple congratulated the students on their milestone, said Denecker, as he relayed their message. "And as you prepare to leave this high school, we want to bless you with a small gift. However, this gift comes with a special challenge," Denecker related. "It's a way to pay it forward to improve your community, improve everyone around you. And hopefully other people can pay things forward as well, just as a ripple effect of kindness." The couple said the money could go to one person they thought need it or more than one person. "They could do whatever they wanted to do, but to pay it forward and use this gift as a blessing to give to someone else, a classmate, a stranger, someone in need, in a way that honors Christ," he said. Denecker, who has been at Bluffton Schools for 26 years — including seven as high school principal and the last 19 as superintendent — said he's never heard of anything like this happening at the school before. The graduates are already making plans. One student said they were going to give the money to a neighbor who is struggling financially and needs some home repairs done, he said. Another is going to help a friend who lost their job. "So just hearing some of those things was really interesting," said Denecker. He noted that one student was even the recipient of kindness because of the gift. "They lost the $1,000 going to the parking lot, and of course they were beside themselves," Denecker said. "The student who had lost it let us know they lost it, and they were like oh my gosh, what do I do?" Luckily, someone happened to be walking by and found the envelope. "They were not a senior because our seniors would have known that it was from somebody in their class and probably would have turned it into the office," said Denecker. The good samaritan turned the money into the Bluffton Police Station, and the student got the money back. "Another ripple of kindness. Just another neat little story that kind of goes with this in terms of an act of kindness or a ripple effect of goodness," said Denecker. "Obviously we're very thankful and the class was very thankful to the couple. It was just a random act of kindness that they wanted to help make this a better community," he added.